121 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn narrated to me, ʿAmmār ibn ʿUthmān narrated to me, from Maʿn Abū Saʿīd, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, he said: I have never seen the like of a people I saw. Once, we came unexpectedly upon a group of worshippers on one of the sea coasts, and they dispersed as soon as they saw us. We spent that night and docked at that island, and throughout most of the night I heard nothing except screaming and seeking refuge from the Hellfire. When morning came, we searched for them and followed their tracks, but we did not see a single one of them.

122 - Muḥammad narrated to me, ʿAmmār ibn ʿUthmān al-Ḥalabī narrated to me, al-Ḥuṣayn ibn al-Qāsim al-Warrāq narrated to me, he said: I heard ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Zayd say: I set out for the Levant in search of worshippers, and I began finding man after man who was exceedingly devoted in striving in worship, until a man said to me:

There used to be a man here who pursued the path you seek, but we lost track of his sanity. So we do not know whether he wants to isolate himself from people thereby, or if something has afflicted him. I said: And what did you find strange about him? He said: Whenever one of us speaks to him, he says: "Al-Walīd and ʿĀtika," adding nothing more. He said: I said: How can I reach him? He said: This is his path. So I waited for him, and suddenly there came a distracted man, unsightly of face and appearance, with abundant hair, altered in complexion, with children around and behind him. He walked silently while they walked silently behind him, wearing filthy rags.

He said: So I stepped forward to him and greeted him with peace, and he turned to me and returned the greeting. I said: May Allah have mercy on you, I wish to speak to you. He said: "Al-Walīd and ʿĀtika." I said: I have been informed of your story. He said: "Al-Walīd and ʿĀtika." I said: I have been informed of your story. He said: "Al-Walīd and ʿĀtika." I said: I have been informed of your story. He said: "Al-Walīd and ʿĀtika." Then he proceeded until he entered the mosque, and the children who were following him turned back. He said: So he withdrew to a pillar and bowed, prolonging the bowing, then prostrated, prolonging the prostration. I approached him and said: May Allah have mercy on you, a stranger wishes to speak to you and ask you about something; so if you wish, prolong it, and if you wish, shorten it, but I will not leave until you speak to me. He said: And while in his prostration, he was supplicating and humbly beseeching. He said: I understood from him while he was prostrating, saying: "Your protection, Your protection!" He said: So he prolonged the prostration until I grew weary. He said: Then I approached him, but I heard no breath from him nor any movement. He said: So I nudged him, and behold, he was dead, as though he had been dead for a very long time.

He said: So I went out to my companion who had directed me to him, and said: Come and look at the one whose mind you claimed to find strange! He said: So I told him his story, then we prepared his body and buried him. (1)